This was such a terrific bit of snark from my favorite tech blog, GMSV, that I had to reproduce it in total:
Only Hollywood in its 20th century box could conceive of a
digital distribution model for films that bleeds away all consumer advantage
and convenience while preserving the economies that guarantee the industry
higher margins. Facing intense pressure from Apple and others eager to
distribute online, the major Hollywood studios have finally embraced digital
distribution.Today, Movielink and CinemaNow, tinsel town’s two movie-download
services, will begin offering
us the ability to download and own films from the Internet on the same day that
they are released on DVD. But those films will cost significantly more than
their DVD counterparts (newer releases on Movielink are priced between $20 and
$30) and they won’t contain extras that are typically included on the disks.
Worse, the
downloads can’t be burned onto disks that can be played on other devices, such
as DVD players and gaming consoles. Sure, you can burn a backup DVD of the
movie and keep it for as long as you care to on your computer. But if
you’d like to watch it on your TV, you must connect the two, which can be a
real inconvenience when the devices are in separate rooms. Nice, eh? Leave it to
Hollywood to offer consumers less while charging them more for it.Of course, Hollywood doesn’t see it that way. "This really is a
transformative moment in the distribution of filmed entertainment content," Paramount
Digital Entertainment President Thomas Lesinski said. "Hollywood has finally
made a real commitment to sell films online and embrace the digital consumer."
The Internet really has come of age, hasn’t it?And the downloads will be extra slow to simulate waiting in line . . .
via GMSV
Idiots. Yeah, I’ll pay more when I can stroll down to WalMart and get a better, more useful product for less money and much faster than waiting for the download, plus pick up some cheap chinese plastic trinkets while I’m there, stop by the liquor store on the way home, and play it on my widescreen LCD tele instead of a 19″ computer monitor.
No single person can be this stupid. This has to be the work of a committee.
Hmmm… Well, there may be something there that is being forgotten. I am an Apple user. I have the ability to send music to my stereo from my computer. Why couldn’t I do the same with a movie? Seems that if that were possible or in the works, Apple again would be the leader in that field. After they work out the pricing problems, there’s likely to be a great deal of business available.
“See, we tried to sell stuff online but the criminal element (a.k.a. ‘the Public’) was just not willing to pay us for it! They’re all thieves, and need to be treated as such … that’s why we need strong DRM!”
To be fair, there *is* a significant value to many consumers of the additional convenience of getting their movie in a matter of hours *without* having to leave their houses. Hollywood may be a bunch of schemers, but I’m far from certain that this idea is less attractive to some consumers (me included) than a DVD purchase…
Hollywood Sez: “Everything You Steal, You Would Have Bought”
There are four types of headlines that translate to Bullshit Below: Bonds: ‘I’m Just Focusing on Winning a Championship’ Bush Administration: ‘___________’ [Politician]: We Can Do Something About Gas Prices Hollywood Estimates Piracy Losses at _____. I…